BP teams with Hyflux on biofuels research

Singapore water treatment firm Hyflux said it has teamed up with BP and the Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics to develop and commercialize membranes used in the production of biofuels. A first project involves using a sort of membrane called zeolite to “dewater” or separate water from bioethanol. By increasing the efficiency of the dewatering step, zeolite membranes have the potential to significantly reduce the energy costs of producing biofuels. Zeolite membranes can also be used in the dehydration of solvents and recovery of used solvents, the company said. (October 9, 2007)